Environmental Peacebuilding: 2015 in Review

Jan 5, 2016 | ELI and UNEP

The field of environmental peacebuilding continued to grow quickly in 2015. We are pleased to share with you some highlights from the Environmental Peacebuilding partnership and from the broader field.

Accomplishments in 2015

Over the course of 2015, the Environmental Peacebuilding partnership—coordinated by Environmental Law Institute (ELI), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the University of Tokyo, and McGill University, and enriched by many other institutions—has collected, organized, and disseminated information on environmental peacebuilding; fostered dialogue and exchange; published a range of books and briefs; and broadly sought to consolidate the emerging field of environmental peacebuilding. 

Following are a few milestones from 2015:

• The Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform (www.environmentalpeacebuilding.org) continues to be the leading global platform on issues related to natural resources, conflict, and peace. It now hosts over 5,000 documents and resources, including nearly 2,000 publications including books, articles, and teaching curricula from over 120 countries. The Platform also features curated lists of relevant jobs, events, announcements, and international news items on natural resources, conflict, and peace that are updated regularly. In 2015, we posted more than 270 jobs, more than 150 events, and over 1,000 international news items. The Platform receives 5,000-8,000 page views per month, with visitors from more than 180 countries.

• Our Environmental Peacebuilding Community of Practice added 500 new members in 2015, and there are now more than 2500 members from 90 countries.  The Community of Practice is enabling researchers, practitioners, and decision makers to share experiences and lessons; network; and learn about news, events, jobs, and other related opportunities.

• We celebrated the two-year anniversary of the Environmental Peacebuilding Update, our biweekly email newsletter on recent developments relating to natural resources, conflict, and peace, including links to new publications, international news, upcoming conferences and events, and job openings. Today marks the publication of the 52^nd issue of the Update.

• In April 2015, Routledge published Livelihoods, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, the fifth in the book series produced by ELI, UNEP, McGill University, and the University of Tokyo. In December, we finalized the sixth and final book in the series, Governance, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding, which will be published in early 2016. The series includes 150 case studies and analyses from more than 60 conflict-affected countries, 112 of which are now available online.

• In 2015, Environmental Peacebuilding’s social media presence continued to grow. On Twitter, we posted over 1,000 tweets that generated approximately 200,000 impressions. We gained 50% more followers than we had at the end of 2014, ending the year with more than 800 followers. The Environmental Peacebuilding LinkedIn group also maintained steady growth over 2015, acquiring nearly 100 members to reach more than 400. Finally, the Environmental Peacebuilding Facebook page continues to develop, with 75 new Likes bringing the total number Likes to over 300.
• We continued to expand the functionality of the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform throughout 2015. We added a Multimedia section to the library, creating a dedicated space for infographics and videos and audio recordings. We also redesigned the landing page to help visitors find the latest events, news, and library items, display our Twitter feed, and increase the visibility of the Environmental Peacebuilding Update. 

• We published the second Environmental Peacebuilding Perspectives Brief, “From Vicious to Virtuous Cycles,” by Jon Barnett. The Environmental Peacebuilding Perspectives series offers original viewpoints from leading thinkers in the field.

• On October 6, 2015, Liz Alden Wily delivered the Third Al-Moumin Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Peacebuilding, entitled, “Communities & the State: Getting the Property Relationship Right for a Safer 21^st Century.” The annual Al-Moumin Distinguished Lecture on Environmental Peacebuilding recognizes leading thinkers who are shaping the field of environmental peacebuilding and is held in partnership with the School of International Service at American University and the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Favorites of 2015

We added more than 2,300 news stories, books, articles, movies, infographics, and other items to the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform in 2015. Here are some of the year’s most popular items on the Environmental Peacebuilding Knowledge Platform, as well as some editors’ picks:

Top 4 topics of news stories on environmental peacebuilding in 2015

(1)  Iraq/Kurdistan/Syria/Islamic State

(2)  Liberia

(3)  Myanmar

(4)  South China Sea/China/Vietnam/Philippines

Top 4 downloaded chapters from the Environmental Peacebuilding book series in 2015

(1)  Bankrupting Peace Spoilers: Can Peacekeepers Curtail Belligerents' Access to Resource Revenues? – Philippe Le Billon

(2)  The Kimberley Process at Ten: Reflections on a Decade of Efforts to End the Trade in Conflict Diamonds – J. Andrew Grant

(3)  The Abyei Territorial Dispute Between North and South Sudan: Why Has Its Resolution Proven Difficult? – Salman M.A. Salman

(4)   Haiti: Lessons Learned and Way Forward in Natural Resource Management Projects – Lucile Gingembre

Editors Picks (11 selections from hundreds of noteworthy publications in 2015)

• Addressing Natural Resource Conflicts: Working towards More Effective Resolution of National and Sub-National Resource Disputes – Michael Keating and Oli Brown
• Did We See It Coming?: State Fragility, Climate Vulnerability, and the Uprisings in Syria and Egypt – Caitlin E. Werrell, Francesco Femia, and Troy Sternberg
• Human Conflict and Ecosystem Services: Finding the Environmental Price of Warfare – Robert A. Francis and Krishna Krishnamurthy
• International Law and Governance of Natural Resources in Conflict and Post-Conflict Situations – Daniëlla Dam-de Jong
• Livelihoods, Natural Resources, and Post-Conflict Peacebuilding – Helen Young and Lisa Goldman (eds.)
• Natural Resources and Conflict: A Guide for Mediation Practitioners – Michael J. Brown, Alex Grzybowski, David Jensen, and Josie Lianna Kaye
• Promoting Climate-Resilient Peacebuilding in Fragile States – Alec Crawford, Angie Dazé, Anne Hammill, Jo-Ellen Parry, and Alicia Natalia Zamudio
• The National Security Implications of a Changing Climate – Executive Office of the President of the United States of America
• The Socioeconomic Determinants of Natural Resource Conflict: Minerals and Maoist Insurgency in India – Jonathan Kennedy
• Water: Think Again [Video] – Kaveh Madani
• Water Wars from the Pharaohs to the West Bank in 2 mins. via LEGO Animation [Video] – AJ+

Looking Forward to 2016

In the coming year, we will continue to collect, organize, and share information on environmental peacebuilding; grow the community; and acknowledge leading scholarship in the field.  We also expect to:

• Working with leading scholars and practitioners, consolidate the field, defining the scope of environmental peacebuilding and building the conceptual underpinnings.
• Finalize Post-Conflict Peacebuilding and Natural Resources: The Promise and The Peril, to be published by Cambridge University Press, which synthesizes findings across the six edited volumes.
• Build national environmental peacebuilding communities of practice in Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, and South Sudan.

We are exploring other opportunities, and welcome partnerships.  For further information, please contact info@environmentalpeacebuilding.org.